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Saturday, February 23, 2013

A Respite of Sorts

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we don’t go (much of) anywhere. For some reason (well, there are several), we just aren’t a vacationing sort of family. But recently it was clear that we needed to get out of Dodge for a little while. A condo in Bend for a few days seemed like the perfect get-away. We’ve done it before (and here)…when Lola was just a wee baby. (My kind sister gets us really inexpensive lodging at Eagle Crest through their time-share, and magically there were three nights available in a large three-bedroom condo for this past week.)

Then on Saturday Levi was very sick. He stayed in bed (our bed, under the electric blanket) all day. He hardly even read. Just slept mostly. He had aches and chills. On Sunday the other three started downhill. Leif was lethargic and quiet. Luke didn’t sleep well that night. Lola was very clingy and sad on Monday. But, I figured, if we had to be sick, we might as well be sick in a lovely condo bigger than our house (with two bathrooms—luxury!!).

So we headed over to Bend on Monday afternoon with four sick children. Our plans of meeting up with friends that evening were cancelled. Instead, we sat around blowing noses, consuming sugar, and watching television. It was lovely lovelier than staying home.

Our exciting outings were trips to the grocery store for staple items such as shirts (I had forgotten to pack any for Levi), thermometers (Lola was very feverish the first night, and not at all after I bought the thermometer), and sugary cereal (that we never have at home).

Russ did take the boys to the pool a few times, but Lola had to be content with a few dips in the whirlpool tub. She didn’t seem to mind.

Russ and I had been craving dinner at the Tumalo Feed Company. The food was wonderful. Being there with four sick-ish kids wasn’t.

Russ was kind enough to drive me into Bend (and then watch the kids) on Wednesday to finally meet up with Tsh. I was disappointed that we weren’t able to all hang out for an evening, but a chat over tea and hot chocolate was wonderful. I snapped a few head shots for some upcoming publicity stuff.

Russ snapped this picture as we were leaving the coffee shop (eek, it’s me with a celebrity!!):

We packed up and headed home on Thursday. The boys had been begging to play in the snow. We are exciting, fun parents who plan big, awesome things for their kids—so we stopped for 10 minutes at a brake check area on the road home to let the kids get cold and wet and think that they had a great vacation. It was a success.

P.S. Happy SEVENTEENTH anniversary to my favorite man in the world.

Luke had to strip his clothes because he was soaked. And then we drove home, eating cheap sugary cereal the whole way.

The end.

Russ and I are going out on an anniversary date this evening, sandwiched in between a sicky vacation and an out of state work trip for him. It’s the good life, I tell ya.

Looks like you made some wonderful memories in spite of having a few curve balls thrown your way:) Oh, and I love those pics of Lola in her pink winter hat. My Emma had that same hat ...now she's turning 10 next month...sigh.

If you call me a celebrity again I'll flick you on the forehead. ;) Otherwise, YES, it was a great time hanging out and we need to do it for much, much longer than the 1.5 hours we had over drinks. Thanks for making time for me!

Your family is so like ours. LOL I'm glad everyone is feeling better. Kelly had the flu the same weekend. :/ I came home from Okla to a sick husband and children who were helping him. We won't mention what the house looked like. I'm still trying to tame it. :)

you ARE awesome parents! these are the memories my kids remember the most. all those awesome historical field trips we went on when they were under junior high age? no recollection except from pictures, but boy they remember those spur-of-the-moment, stop-real-quick fun family times. and then you blink and they're all driving (or getting married.....)

don't blink!jodi in pa-who is *still* trying to come up with a way to not cry at our daughter's wedding in june (not sad, exactly, we're happy for her and love him, but...)

No, he is an IKEA doggy. He's actually Luke's lovey, but he was sharing because Lola was sad. <3 That's smart to buy 2! Except I never know what my kids will get attached to until it's too late to find another!

I love all these photos, but something about the juxtaposition of those magical snow photos with the shot of the backseat is particularly charming!

And it's often the little things the kids will remember anyhow ... so you can feel good about the fact that you didn't give in to the reasons NOT to go, and went and made the memories anyway, as imperfect (and real!) as they were.

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Some links on this blog contain affiliate codes. I receive a small amount of commission based on sales made through the links. All opinions and recommendations are my own.Thanks for helping support Mt. Hope Chronicles!